Game & Movie Reviews.

August 30, 2016August 30, 2016

Hitman: Marrakesh Review

‘Murderous Misstep’

Hitman’s third location takes Agent 47 to the cultured and trepid location of Marrakesh. Tasked with assassinating two targets, a general taking refuge in an abandoned school, the other a corrupt banker that is held up inside the Swedish embassy. Both of these targets are well-fortified on opposite ends of the map, and require more of a tactical approach than the previous episodes required. While this episode provides a slightly tougher task to complete, its also where the flaws in Hitman start to show.

Like Paris and Sapienza, Marrakesh is just as detailed of an environment as you would come to expect. Crowds of people-ranging from locals to vacationers-move about the streets in groups checking the local shops and cuisine. This may seem exciting at first, but thats when one of the first flaws starts to reveal itself. As I was walking around-scouting my plan of action for the mission-I started to get harassed by a female npc shopkeeper who wanted me to checkout her carpet store. To make things even weirder, her accent was American, and not of the native language; maybe she left America to go to Morocco to own a carpet shop, who knows? That’s not the only instance in the game though, I started to recognize a certain woman’s British accent from the previous episodes; while I don’t have a problem with this, it feels a bit lazy, as if the developers weren’t too concerned about the npc dialogue in the game. It can feel out-of-place, and detract from the experience.

As for the mission at hand, there are a few challenges and opportunities presented that make going for Silent Assassin meritless. One challenge/opportunity involves the use of a tank to take out both enemies. This is a cool challenge, but it is pretty pointless when going for a complete stealth play-through. That isn’t to say these challenges are bad, it just conflicts with the overall stealth aspect Hitman is known for. While I admire the thought of having new opportunities/challenges, some of the familiar ones-like drowning a target in toilet-start to wear out their welcome.

While the episode has its flaws, the bright spot comes in taking out the targets. The targets themselves are where the challenge comes in. Since both are so heavily guarded, I had to use a bit of trial and error to be successful in the mission. Both the Swedish Embassy and the abandoned school have law enforcement and soldiers respectively. A bit of strategizing goes a long-way in coming up successful, provided the player has played the previous episodes, then he/she may find themselves more than capable of completing the mission.

Marrakesh is a fun, yet somewhat flawed episode, that still provides the same challenge and reward previous episodes provided. While there isn’t anything inherently new, the episode still provides the same replay value as the first two.